UK Labour did fantastically well in Thursday’s general election, despite Jeremy Corbyn being painted as an “unelectable” leftist by the media commentariat – and even by most of his Labour colleagues. Labour’s advance was not really a surprise. As I wrote in my Daily Blog post a year and a half ago, Corbyn’s “Keynesian policies are considerably more popular than the austerity championed by Cameron and the Labour right.”

Having strong left-wing leaders of the Labour Party is an unusual phenomenon for the UK. Corbyn was elected leader with the overwhelming support of the party members but opposition from the overwhelming majority of Labour MPs. This is a contradiction that cannot last indefinitely.

What Labour requires is a redefinition of what, as a party, it is for in the world it’s thirteen years of power shaped. They are suffering from a crisis of political identity much greater than their 80’s nadir

It’s bad news that the British Conservatives will be ruling for another five years. But the good news is that the parties campaigning on the strongest left platforms, the Scottish National Party (SNP) and the Greens, both picked up a lot more votes.